Gregory's ServerThe Daily Beast is reporting that Elon Musk ordered engineers to switch off his Starlink satellites just as Ukraine was preparing to attack the Russian naval fleet with drones. He said he feared nuclear retaliation by Russia. It’s high time we ask the question: How much power and influence does it make sense to hand just one person?
 182 comments
12
@georgetakei He's not in the position to determine if Russia is going to launch nukes or not   @toallpointswest Moreover, this fearmongering like "Russia will launch nukes if we will [something here, e. g. not install Trump as next US president] !!!!11" is one of key tools of Kremlin narrative today, meanwhile Russian "president" is crazy enough to launch nukes just for lulz or "to let the p:nd0s s#ck" (term used by Russian propaganda). @georgetakei The better question might be just where does the loyalty of that power and influence from one man lies.  @BCWilliams71 We don't need to even ask that question if we don't give any one person, or even small handful of people, that much power. @mathaetaes We shouldn't have to ask that question, but we have put ourselves in the position where a handful of people control the fate of this world.  @georgetakei the fact that one company was able to pump so much pollution into orbit around earth should upset everyone on the planet honestly.  @georgetakei @ArnoJanBoere   @georgetakei Last time I read the Constitution, aiding America's enemies was #treason. #Elon #Musk belongs in prison for this. @argv_minus_one @georgetakei absent a declared war, I think our treason law can't help here. @mcpinson @georgetakei Only because Congress and the White House haven't bothered declaring their wars since WWII. Sending weapons and training to a country's enemies is waging war against that country. @georgetakei @argv_minus_one @mcpinson If we officially declared the war you imply- it would implicate NATO and cause WWIII, which no one has any inclination to do.  As long as the wealthy are allowed to buy elections, elections will continue to be bought. @VedaDalsette @georgetakei But when it comes to elections, we have the absolute FREE SPEECH right to be subjected to as much spin, manipulation, deception, outright lies, and psychological warfare as billionaires can afford to publish!!!!!1!!!1! /S (Wasn't that the twisted "logic" behind Citizens United?) @georgetakei Please George, it's time to stop linking to Twitter-bomb websites. You are directing large volumes of traffic to his platform from this one, which we came to to get away from Musk, via several pages such as secondnexus, which contain a large number of twitter links. Just going to those pages counts as multiple twitter interactions. @maddad @georgetakei He owns Starlink. If I owned a restauraunt, im pretty sure i can close it when i decide. @PhillipRT @maddad @georgetakei That's true. But if you owned 1/3 of the food of the world and decided to withhold it to some of them, you'd be classified as something worse.  @georgetakei @vesperto @georgetakei I would say that relying on a private entity to provide critical infrastructure is bad, regardless if it is one person or not. Private organizations are motivated by profit first, which is bad for people's welfare no matter the situation.  @georgetakei Especially one person that has no democratic legitimation whatsoever. All this feels like we are stuck in a prequel to "Neuromancer", the title of which could be "The rise of the Megacorps". @georgetakei there were also demonstration of blowing up old soviet satellite. Blowing one at starlink orbit would render his whole network of satellites unusable with debris. His motives are totally selfish. @georgetakei   @georgetakei My opinion of you is unchanged: you've usually been pretty clueless, but thanks for relaying the report from Daily Beast, though it is NOT a progressive publication, but pretends well enough to convince those folks who still think Obama is "hope and change". @georgetakei I have no idea how Starlink would effect Ukraine’s operations, or why Musk would feel the need to shut it off, but the question is a valid one. Providing a service like this, the owner should not be able to turn it off at his whim. I woukd think there would be some level of Govt oversight. 🤔 I'm pretty sure this is the practical definition of "oligarchy" in action. Somebody whose power over governments stems from the amount of money they have, and the control they get through their wealth alone. And it needs to be illegal.  Exactly, and having the whole world grow to depend on his internet is just a horrible idea. @georgetakei I don't have an answer to this, but at what point does doing stuff like this violate the Neutrality Act? @georgetakei does this scumbag even have a single redeeming quality? Musk's is a patently false excuse for shutting down Ukrainian access to his proprietary satellite communications and positioning system. It's more probable he simply supports Russia in its war against Ukraine and violated the Logan Act. It illustrates the high cost the US pays for relying on the private sector for essential infrastructure - which once included twtr. @georgetakei we are fools to permit billionaires and think any democracy can exist. Beyond silly, a child could see it isn't possible. They are far too dangerous, able to undermine the peoples will and buy our representation. That very fact the media doesn't sound alarm bells over these occurrences tells you owns them, not the people. A true democracy would see this danger and protect against it. people cant grasp how billionaire rule strangles capitalism and democracy in its sleep  @vesperto @georgetakei that is at the heart of it all, we are just too stupid and i mean utterly stupid to realize that. Consider those with even the best intentions having perverse power like that? What you or I might think is right to do for ourselves and those we love, might unintentionally deprive others to such a degree it does harm. Intelligence would understand too much power in the hands neglects too many who have no say. To want to have and wield that power is stupid or wicked. It's not so much about Elon's craziness (which should be beyond any doubt, by now), it is the general question, whether public infrastructure belongs in private hands or not. I reckon, there are not many arguments for private ownership, except for "but capitalism is good, socialism is evil". @georgetakei I have a theory. At some point, Elon Musk stepped into a teleportation booth, but unknown to him Elon Musk was also in the booth. Now he’s gradually turning into Elon Musk, with horrific results.  @georgetakei This episode raises even more questions. How did Elon know when and where the operation was happening so as to disable communications at the critical moment such that the attack would fail and the drone assets lost? What other operations is he meddling with? Is he sharing any comms or location information gleaned from #Starlink with the Russians?  @mastodonmigration @georgetakei I'm no elmo fan, but if Starlink is used for direct military purposes rather than humanitarian operations, it becomes both a military and sanctions target. Russia has a pretty robust ASAT capability. @mastodonmigration According to this CNN article, the SOB spoke with senior Russian officials, was apparently told about the mission, then turned off Skylink. WTEF is up with him talking to senior Russian officials about the war??? Then he has the nerve to claim he doesn't think Starlink should be involved in a war, when he just got it involved in a war to help the Russians. I guarantee that if you or I or any other private citizen were caught palling around with high-level Russian officials or regularly making personal phone calls to Putin the FBI would be kicking down our doors before we even said “До свидания” And while the general public is just now learning about this, it strains credulity to believe the Biden admin. has remained unaware this whole time. Which raises the question: why on earth haven’t they done anything?  @mastodonmigration @georgetakei Of course he's sharing intel with Russia. Of course he's committing treason. He doesn't care. @georgetakei A serious question is "how did Musk know they were launching an attack"? Does he actually hire spies to report on the Ukranian military? If so, that might be a violation of US law and certainly would be a violation of Ukranian law. @ErisCaffee @georgetakei @Ferencz @georgetakei  @georgetakei  @georgetakei Let's contrast your experience with someone who wasn't born here, strode in from a racist hellhole, got a government subsidized lifestyle, and has no concept of American values. Let's show the contrast, and be really clear about it. You were born here, Mr. Takei, and were entitled to the rights and privileges of citizenship, and yet. This lost Belgian needs to know their place.  @georgetakei Billionaires are an existential threat to democracy.    @georgetakei No... that time was when he was unilaterally doing some crazy crap like buying companies on a whim and the west/us was catering to his every whim... @georgetakei I think Starlink needs to be taken over by the US Military! At least be under government regulation @georgetakei @georgetakei As it is: Thanks to the obstructionist #GOP #MAGA #Trump virus, #Americans favor a #Cult felony criminal defendant over the #USA's own #Constitution & national #Security🔴https://rb.gy/4wnby + Less than 1/4 of the nation even cares about national unity let alone 21st Century #Leadership🔴https://bit.ly/3F4HcbM Add that to the whole #Tesla-#Twitter #Bot cult & questions about #ElonMusk's outsized power & influence become less important to the average nonstrategic #American.▼  @georgetakei Billionaires are an emergent threat to every country on earth. We are no exception. If something isn’t done to curtail their power, money will determine who lives and who dies.  “It has been interesting, watching your transformation from the electric car guy into a full-fledged piece of shit. @ElonMusk” - Jimmy Kimmel, Twitter, 10/30/2022 @georgetakei At the very least, our military & NATO should take note of the hazard of using starlink for any operational purpose.  @georgetakei How about not much? How about the mechanisms of elite power be torn to shreds and never again be built? Pretty sure it's illegal for civilians to interfere with military operations anyway. I hope they can. But the wider point here is no predatory capitalist should be controlling essential national or international infrastructure. @kkarhan @shekinahcancook @georgetakei This is a geostationary satellite. It can not provide the same low latency as Starlink. Which is essential for remote controlling drones.  @amayer @shekinahcancook @georgetakei Which is bs because that's how all the Drones get remote-controlled by the USAF... Or do you really believe drones are that low latency like in CoD to use? They only have an Iridium Burst backup channel to recieve commands like "fly to coordinates x y @ height z, report back and await orders... @amayer @shekinahcancook @georgetakei I wish I could go into details but based off some former friends experiences, I'd like my door intact, my neck lead-free and my pronouns not non-consensually changed to was/were... That being said: Read some #SpecSheets on #GlobalSecurityOrg or even #Wikipedia and then realize that #Starlink was neither designed nor approved for that useage and #SpaceX explicitly bans in it their ToS - unlike #XTAR & #Iridium... Funny, if Ukraine can use it, then so can western Russia, I'd guess. Just because he's not advertising it doesn't mean it's not there. And he doesn't seem to be turning it off for them. @shekinahcancook @amayer @georgetakei Well, X-Band based MILSATCOM is basically exclusive to MIL/INTEL customers and I'm shure #Ukraine will be allowed to become a customer... @shekinahcancook @amayer @georgetakei I'd call Zelenskyy or at least his military & intelligence "criminally stupid" if they didn't already use it... As you mentioned, it requires funding and cooperation from the other side. We don't know which, if not both, are lacking. @shekinahcancook @amayer @georgetakei C @shekinahcancook @amayer @georgetakei Shure, but I don't get paid for doing that myself... Also I'd rather not provide the enemy with tactical info that could be used to jeopardize the success... If you thought of it, then they did too. But no reason to make it easy for them. @kkarhan @shekinahcancook @georgetakei So what you are saying is you haven’t seen any of the released footage of the surface drones? Get on YouTube and check. Yes, they are used just like in a video game. They even avoid incoming machine gun fire. I’ll excuse myself from this discussion now. Have a nice day. @georgetakei bullllllllshit. He is not a military strategist and he needs to stay in his "pretending to be an intelligent tech bro" lane. Shit...he's not even pretending to be that anymore. Devolved into online alt right troll. @georgetakei Wait. They're saying Musk spoke with Russian officials prior to making a decision to turn off Starlink? So, how can he claim Starlink was not meant to be involved in wars when he just involved himself in the war to help the Russians. WTF??  Or the better question Why is the Most Powerful Man on Warth doing LITERALLY Nothing to stop him?  @georgetakei Especially one that drinks the kool-aid of his own platform and clearly has a messiah complex? @georgetakei starlink needs to be nationalized and the sec needs to take a closer look in to Elon’s businesses, this is embarrassing as a nation and frustrating as hell to watch  @georgetakei Elon Musk is a TRAITOR to America !! He can take his BAD decisions and all of his $$ and cram it up his ASS !! I’m tired of hearing about this ANTI Amer. IDIOT !! @georgetakei his ego outweighs his bank balance, which inevitably will cause his downfall. Just a matter of time. He’ll piss off the wrong people. Hope I live to see it.  How much power and influence does it make sense to hand just one extremely stupid and immoral person? What if the CEO of Raytheon doesn't like the target of a Tomahawk cruise missile? Can he just pull the plug on it?? @georgetakei I'm just fussy but why does every assclown get to launch unlimited satellites w unlimited pollution ? bad enough he gets to do unlimited breeding  @georgetakei Thought this #doubledownnews video was in a way related to your comment, in general: https://www.doubledown.news/watch/2023/august/9/the-corporate-war-on-democracy @georgetakei He wants access to lithium mined in Russia. That's what I think, anyhow. Musk thinks he's too damn big & important to be subject to individual nations anyhow. I wish he'd go to Mars and be done with it, dagnabbit!  @georgetakei As a general rule of thumb the answer *must* be "none." Humans as a whole seem to be determined to have one person at the top, but no one person can truly make perfect decisions every time due to, well, being human... Heck, even most things that conceptually imagine a computer in charge often have said computer having multiple parts working together to try to simulate the different parts of humanity. @hannu_ikonen @georgetakei @georgetakei will someone please kindly kick him in the balls. I will if I ever meet him. I promise.   Actually, it is in the new biography that just came out. 1. No one person should have that much power @georgetakei if you're only now asking this question then you haven't been fucking paying attention.  @georgetakei @georgetakei was this before or after he demanded the US government pay for his previous 'gift'?  @georgetakei Do you think you're still supporting his power and influence by continuing to post on his platform? Whilst one could argue that you have to soapbox where the people are, doesn't using Twitter just allow Elon to say that Twitter hosts a range of views, further legitimising his platform?  It's lucky for the world that, if he had to be born, it was in South Africa, so he can't run for POTUS.  @georgetakei When a Trumper orders a worldwide communication system shut down while trying to enact his own personal national policy agenda we have truly reached the bottom of the barrel in allowing the lunatic fringe that much power. @georgetakei all good people should get off of Twitter as soon as possible. We don't have to be exclusive to Mastodon, but we need to stop giving Musk clicks.  @georgetakei The question is, why does Elon Musk have any power at all? (Still on Twitter? You're part of the problem.) @georgetakei How did #Musk have information about a planned attack with enough detail to know precisely when to switch off communications? What else was discussed/negotiated with Putin?  @georgetakei I’m pissed off no one asked me about this stuff. I’m just as good at catching feelings as any son of a South African emerald miner. @georgetakei Quite literally the opening chapter to a James Bond story with Elon as a villain.  "nuclear retaliation" is fearmongering But a rational reasonable business concern would be that if the Ukraine is using Starlink satellites for military purposes, then this would make Starlink satellites themselves, in low Earth orbit, legitimate military targets for Russia, according to the Geneva Conventions.  @georgetakei Nationalize StarLink. It is National Security threat. Otherwise, scrape the satellites out of the sky. @georgetakei The story back when he was considering acquiring Twitter was that he was buds with Putin and that he would either use it to do Putin's bidding or just destroy it. Clearly the story was wrong in that the OR should have been an AND. |
@georgetakei unelected!!!